No, A Hillary Presidency Won’t Be The End of America

No, A Hillary Presidency Won’t Be The End of America July 28, 2016

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(c) United States Mission Geneva, flikr. Used with permission.

Those who know me know that I’ve never been much of a Hillary fan—I’m still not, all things considered.

However, as I have been outspoken in my criticism of the ideas and values of Donald Trump, I’ve found myself amazed at the number of people who view Hillary Clinton as somehow morally equal to him. In fact, I’ve seen countless commenters say that if Hillary Clinton becomes president she would be a threat to the future of our country, as if her presidency is somehow a worst-case scenario that will lead to the end of the Republic itself.

And this, my friends, leaves me scratching my head. Whatever policy disagreements I have with Hillary Clinton, she is in no way a threat to the future of the Republic.

Only one candidate is openly advocating for the level of extremism that could create a legitimate constitutional crisis between the branches of government, and that’s Donald Trump. Only one candidate is saying they will command our military to commit war crimes. Only one candidate is openly threatening the freedom of religion through WWII style treatment of an entire religious group. Only one candidate is threatening to round up millions of people, separating children from their families, and to get rid of them as if they are rodents. Only one candidate is openly asking the Russians to attack us, only one candidate mocks people with disabilities, only one candidate is being praised by the KKK, Russia, and North Korea, and only one candidate lacks the temperament to be trusted with nuclear bombs.

There’s only one candidate who is a legitimate threat to the fabric of our country—and it’s not Hillary.

Hillary, as much as I disagree with her on a variety of issues and past policy decisions, will likely be a very fine president—she might actually turn out to be a really good president when history turns back to judge these next years.

A few weeks ago I was having dinner with my good friend, Frank Schaeffer, and he made a compelling argument in this regard. The argument goes like this: because Hillary is so unrelentingly ambitious, she will likely be less than content to just have an average presidency—she will want to leave a legacy that will outshine even that of her husband, who himself was a very fine president. This ambition and unquenchable desire for a legacy could likely result in a presidency that is marked by impressive accomplishments—because I can’t imagine she’d settle for anything less.

Hillary will not be content to simply be known as the first female president. She will want to be known as an outstanding president—and I like that.

Hillary will have no interest in creating constitutional conundrums. She will have no interest in alienating our allies. She will have no interest in the types of situations Donald Trump tends to gravitate towards, because unlike Trump, she really does care what others think about her—and she certainly cares what history will think of her.

And this, I believe, will motivate her to be a great president who history will look favorably upon.

The absolute last possible thing Hillary Clinton wants to do is damage the nation. To think this is to totally ignore her drive for accomplishment and a rare place in American history.

Hillary Clinton is by no means my preferred candidate, but this idea that she is somehow comparable to Donald Trump, as if they both represent an equal threat to the nation, is downright silly.

What we actually have is a situation where one person wants to be sworn in as president so he can declare himself the greatest president of all time. Leaks from his VP vetting process hint that Trump himself has no desire to govern, and that his VP would be the most powerful VP in all of history. Trump wants the title and everything that comes with it– it’s selfishness, which is different than ambition.

In the other case we have someone who, I believe, wants to be sworn in as president so that she can have her shot at immortality– living on, generations from now, as the history of great American presidents is retold.

There is no comparing the two of them—one will be an absolute disaster. The other will likely be a very fine president– and I don’t have to agree with all of her positions to admit that.

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